Fw: Thoughts from Air Force One

I was honored to join President Obama for a rally in Ohio yesterday. He made his case about why we need to pass health insurance reform as soon as possible, and I couldn’t agree more.

On the flight back to Washington aboard Air Force One, I thought about how the same community center in Strongsville where the President spoke was a site for my mobile office when I served in the House. Ohioans would come to share their stories about the problems they confronted trying to get affordable health care, or navigating the hopelessly tangled insurance system.

We’ve been debating this issue for generations. We’ve seen the situation only worsen over the past decade. We’ve been debating this bill for over a year. Good ideas from both sides of the aisle have been incorporated into our reform plan, and now it’s time to give it the up-or-down vote it deserves.

We cannot wait. Ohio families and small businesses cannot afford to wait.

As I listened to the President speak yesterday, I looked from face to face in the audience, and it struck me — we’re closer than ever to passing real reform. For Ohioans and Americans suffering under the status quo, relief cannot come soon enough.

The time has come. We must finish this job. The American people have been waiting decades for real reform, and it’s long past time we delivered.

I’m so grateful for all your support and hard work throughout this process. Thanks for all you do, for Ohio and our country.